What are your thoughts on the accuracy of rangefinders?

They are not very accurate at short ranges but better at some distance. You pays your money and you takes your chances. Like with everything, more money equals more accuracy and greater distance. A couple of yards off is NBD.

If you’ve got a laser, whaddaya care about range? They shoot dead flat. They’ve got no trajectory.

With a reflective target, very accurate Gary.


Frank

I have used rangefinders around my place upstate and then measured them with a wheeled measuring ruler( to see if accurate), the trick is to range find on a good solid object large enough for an accurate reading, and it is pretty close both ways...but a 40 buck rangefinder wont be as accurate as a $100.00 one and so on up the scale of expense..also remember the rangefinder is not measuring the ups and downs of the land, just a horizontal straight line, so that has to be taken into account when measuring with any ground device..

I’ve had four range finders. The first one was a Bushnell and the one I use now is a Leupold which compensates for angle when archery hunting. They all are accurate when checked against known distances. I haven’t had one yet that had noticeable error. However, I’m sure there must be some out there. I don’t think that the technology is all that complicated and they all are pretty accurate at shorter distances….say up to four hundred yards or so. The difference between the cheaper ones and the expensive ones is lighted reticle, ability to work in dim conditions (rain, fog, etc), and their ability to work on different levels of reflectabilty of the target. Still, on a clear day they all work pretty good.

That rangefinder that compensates for the angle sounds like a good idea. as soon as I read NoSecondBest copmment on the angle, I decided when/if I get one, I want that calculation done for me. And, I believe the more expensive devices are typically rated for a longer distance.

Most of the rangefinders' manufacturers have a specifications page on their website that describe how accurate they are expected to be. And the ones I have experience with- Leupold, Leica, Nikon, and Vortex are very accurate to very long ranges. Most of the good ones now have TBR (true ballistic range) which is the angled reading which accounts for shooting up or down hill and the range you should be considering for drop...

I won’t quibble with the inherent accuracy of a given instrument. It does pay to have some estimate of range so that you can ID false readings, which have nothing to do with accuracy of instrument. Having used them under all conditions heat waves, mist, ect can short stroke reading.

My Vortex seems dead on for a $400 dollar unit. I`m not concerned about a yard or 2 here an there. As long as you buy a good brand named one, no worries in my opinion.

I have a Leupold 2800 and we used to play a game at work with it. 6 or 8 guys on a crew would put $5 each in a hat. We'd pick some distant object at random and everyone would take a guess. Closest to the actual wins the pot. Every now and then our surveyor would be around during lunch and play.

We checked it at multiple distances against his very high $ professional GPS instrument and it was accurate within a yard or two to over a mile from ridge tops.

Some of these NRL 22 participants are very picky and claim they are missing shots because a Target may be off one yard

Regards
JCS

Bushnell rangefinders are the most accurate of them all. They cost more for a reason. #1 rangefinder on the PGA. They want it to be within a yard, so.....

GaryMacGuyver said:

Some of these NRL 22 participants are very picky and claim they are missing shots because a Target may be off one yard

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I have a Leupold I got somewhere at some point. Checked it when I was getting a survey done. I was fine. Most important thing is to have something solid to bounce the laser off. It can't do magic tricks. Think I gave about 100$ for it.

I bought a lightly used Leopold and so far it's been working OK as far as I can tell, first time I used it I double checked with a surveyors tape measure and it was close enough for me.

TMW99577 said:

If you’ve got a laser, whaddaya care about range? They shoot dead flat. They’ve got no trajectory.

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Somewhat true.....To get the most out of your rangefinder you need to get the incline compensating style or Sigs BDX series with Applied Ballistics software

Laser alignment and beam divergence are what mater. The better it is aligned and smaller laser will always return a more accurate reading. You pay for it to be more precise. Reflectivity of the target will also play a factor.

Is the target half inch or less for the complaints at 50 yards or more? I have a Leica 2800 and sig kilo 3000s. I measured with tape 50 yards and also laserer. A rangefinder might say 50.2-50.4-50.6 on a steel ipsc and a 18$ elcheapo tape measure said 150 feet

I think most good lasers will stay within a yard or half a yard. Running a barricade at a few positions can add minor angular distances or subtract to a target also. Example a 8 feet wide vtac and target is center. The value of difference is there but meaningless.

Also if the shooters can lase the range themselves they can micromanage their own dope. I shoot at a ukd often. When I miss it's because is sucked at ranging dope execution or some combination.